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| Mr. and Mrs. Gerd Rausch having the paraffin hand treatment |
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| Hannelore and Cornelia |
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| Hannelore having paraffin hand treatment |
The sun peaked out here and there today but it was still warm so a great day for a long walk. But before going for a walk I had a lovely breakfast with Hannelore, Günter and Cornelia the family from Berlin and the other wonderful couple from southern Germany Mr. and Mrs. Gerd Rausch who were leaving today for Bramberg, Germany for a few days and then heading home. They are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next month which is incredible.
After breakfast Mr. and Mrs. Rausch hugged me goodbye and then I went off to my treatments a pressure point, water massage and a head/neck/back massage and when I got up to my room after all was finished I found in front of my door a glass jar with yellow roses in it. Mr. and Mrs. Rausch left and had put them there before checking out. Could they be any sweeter, I don't think so between the spa wafers and now the roses. Their kindness was so appreciated. They have one daughter and I think I reminded the wife of her and when they found out I have been traveling alone I think she got a little worried but either way for them to have been so generous and kind speaks volumes about the kind of wonderful people they are.
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| Roses the left outside my door |
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| Roses by my bedside |
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| Free Roaming Chickens |
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| St. Jacob Church |
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| Chickens on the move to the island |
So off I went for my long walk. The town itself, as I've mentioned is very small so you get to the residential neighborhood in a matter of minutes which I love because I like to see how the locals live and get a feel for the real day-to-day life of a place. Here is very nice with quiet neighborhoods where people were out tending their gardens, cleaning their walkways and doing errands like grocery shopping and the Lidal's near the center of town.
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| Chicken's crossing the road - Yes the old joke does come to mind and I'm sure they just wanted to get to the other side |
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| St. Jacob Steeple |
I came to St. Jakob's Catholic Church (Kirche St. Jakob) just up a small hill and past a tiny park that had a bunch of free-range chickens although I'm sure they don't refer to them as free-range they probably belong to someone who lets them eat on the parks grounds. I got worried because some of them were just hanging around near the edge of the park just inches away from on coming traffic but I think locals know they're there and most slow down since these chickens roam around like they own the place. I got up to the church took some pictures and walked the 2 minutes back toward the park and the chickens had all moved to this tiny island across the street from the park and where searching for food among the leaves there and some were already meandering back across the street like they hadn't a care in the world and perhaps they don't they just have gotten used to traffic stopping for them. There was even a large red rooster among the chickens strutting his stuff.
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| Restaurant for lunch |
It then it me that I was to find a bathroom soon or I was going to be in some trouble. All this wonderful spring water, liters and liters a day is causing me to have to stop every half hour or so. It's a good thing the place is so small there is somewhere nearby to stop all the time. I chose a little local Czech pub/restaurant and order a bowl of soup and they kindly let me use the bathroom which was outside the restaurant and required a key. But being that I had to go so badly I was horrified when I couldn't get the old skeleton key to work so I had to go back in the restaurant and one of the female patrons came out with me to let me in. I don't like to be a nuance but a few seconds more and I would have had an accident. I think it's all the Glauber spring water I'm drinking.
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| Sts. Peter and Paul Church |
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| Public Library |
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| Even the sign posts have a sculpture of Little Francis |
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| Sculpture outside the museum |
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| Sculpture outside the museum |
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| Museum Sign with city Coat-of-arms |
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| Old Spa treatment utensils |
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| Czech Crystal over the centuries |
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| The Original Little Francis |
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| Accessories from the olden spa days |
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| 1760 Spa Barrel now used like a wishing well with lots of change at the bottom. I make a wish as well. |
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| St. Katherine Statue with old book and Czech Glass Goblet |
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| Floor on the stairwell in the museum. I liked the pattern |
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| Libor Michalák unique book works |
The soup was very good and with the bottle of Matoni spring water I got (yes, more water) it only came to about 2 dollars. Incredible and it was nice to be in a place with only locals.
I walked back to the town center passing the elementary school and finding myself near the public library so I went in and she let me check out two books in English. I love that but I have only the weekend to read them so I have to keep the blog short the next few days so I can get through them. I began the Mark Twain short stories while at the spa this afternoon so I've got a head start.
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| View of rooftops with Sts. Peter and Paul in the distance |
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| Milan Vendi Hůrka work |
But before going to the spa at the Harvey Hotel I stopped off at the Františkovy Lázně Museum where they have the original Little Francis statue which was created in the 1920's by Karel Mayer from Cheb and he, like the version now in the park is holdings a fish. There is a second statue that somehow got destroyed but the women at the museum didn't speak a great deal of English so she wasn't able to elaborate on what really happened to him. But I went over to Little Francis I and made sure to rub his foot and other parts of his body. He is looking a bit mischievousness glancing downward and holding his fish. I'm not sure why he holding a fish, he just is.
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| Milan Vendi Hůrka work |
Also in the museum are furniture from the 17th century spas as well as instruments they used in their procedures back then. I'm glad they don't use them now, it all looked frightening and they're bad enough now as it is.
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| Pond with ducks playing on ice |
There was also an exhibit on the third floor "Together again - book objects by Libor Michalák and drawings
by Milan Vendi Hůrka." I found the book exhibit interesting with all the unique ways Mr. Michalák found to assemble his book creations and Mr. Hůrka works are a wonderful combination of dark, light and vibrant color with very varied themes and images.
Libor Michalák is an author and works as a professor at the
Faculty of Economical Sciences in Cheb. He is devoted to book-covers for more
than 20 years. He received his education from his friend Milan Kodejš, a
leading Czech book restorer. The exhibit is a collection of bound books in
various shapes and sizes and incorporating odd materials like a toothpaste
tube.
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| View of Pond from museum window |
Milan Vendi Hůrka is
a ceramicist, illustrator, cartoonist and graphic designer Milan Hůrka studied
at the Technical University in Bechyně. Since 1975 he lives in Tachau. Since
same year he collaborates with the Cultural Tachau group, for which he created
a number of works - in the field of graphic design (invitations, New Year's
cards, diplomas and posters). He works with the theater, too - together Jara
Cimrmann Theater in Prague and with the Art Gallery in Eger. His most famous
project was a memorial to the U.S. Army in Tachau in 1990, on which he worked
with the academic architects Vratislaus Kucera and the academic sculptor Alena
Buresova. In the new millennium the porcelain is his beloved material.
I came to the Sts. Peter and Paul church near the museum and like all the others I've passed they close for lunch like a siesta.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in the spa and on my way back to my hotel I stopped off to get my evening water cure and the had a very nice dinner with the Behnsch family who joined me later in the lounge to show me pictures of their trip to Waldsassen, Germany where there is a famous Abby and is only 17 kilometers away from here.
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| Pond with ducks playing on ice |
We got to chatting using Google Translate and it turns out Hannelore and Gunter will have been married 53 years next month. Hannelore, after I told them I was single said she'll keep an eye out for a good man and if she sees one she'll take a picture and email it to me. The lounge had about 10 other people in it watching the soccer match between Czech and Turkey (Czech lost) and when a man came in late Cornelia pointed to him but Hannelore said no, but I'm not sure exactly why. Something to do with him have too big a belly I think although I didn't think he was overweight by any means but she just kept shaking her head and say, "nicht, nicht, nicht."
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| Still Frozen Pond |
So here I am finishing my blog and then I'm off to my room to enjoy the rest of my Mark Twain book. It is strange I'm reading Mark Twain in the Czech Republic but there are so many things lately that surprise me.
